Southern Pacific Company 610 South Main Street .. Los

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TATE: Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR s (Rev. 6-72) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE California C OUNTY: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Los Angeles INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY E NTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) SEP 2 5 1974 -•: ':-:x:::x:: : :-:'':x : x::::::;x;::x::::::-::::::::::::x-i':-::::: x-:-x-:-:-x-:-x-:-x-:-:-X:X:XxXxX:XxXxX:Xx

COMMON: Pa 0 ocncGT T StsctJioYi C AND/^>R HISTORIC: • .. ^Lynwood Pacific Electric Railway DepoV? ill STREET AND, NUMBER: Southern Pacific Railroad Riffot o£-4»tovt llli^ Loncr Rftflnh Boul evaT»d CITY OR TOWN: CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Lynwood 3$th

STATE CQDE COUNTY: CODE California 06 Los Angeles 037 ^•^^i^lllillllll^l^PIMiiiiill^liilpi^PPi^^^^^^P ACCESSIBLE CATEGORY OWNERSH.P STATUS (Check One) TO THE PUBLIC

| | District 3D Building l~~1 Public Public Acquisition: 1 I Occupied Yes: O Restricted D Site Q Structure E Private Q ln Process PS Unoccupied ffij Unrestricted Q "object D Both 09 Bcin 9 Considered # O Preservation work ^offered as gift in progress n NO

'PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

OWNER'S NAME:. ]California (STATE Southern Pacific Company STREET AND NUMBER: 610 South Main Street .. CITY OR TOWN: STATE: ' < ' ? C'ODF Los Angeles California x r A 06

COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: ~~* / "" ' - .t* Los Angeles County Hall of Records , ; $£p c o COUNTY: /o> . 01 STREET AND NUMBER: ~> '« /* T " i ***/ V 227 North Broadway :' \ ^r ; ' ? " £ ' " ."% . .' : OQ CITY OR TOWN: STATE 0> -'.,/" v CODE H (D Los Angeles California. , 06 CO

TITLE OF SURVEY:A C^Q^ History of ^Q Southern District of the Pacific Electric Railway and the City of Tynwoodts FftTati^nship to it. NUMBERENTRY -n 0 DATE OF SURVEY: Fe it)I*HaT*V ?2 1 97) 1 CD Federal [~~| State Q County j^l Loca 70 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: CO Z rn-ti TJ Lynwood City Hall, Department of PuKlir*. T^orks C STREET AND NUMBE*R: ' CO en m 0 11330 Bullis Road r-Z CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE Sfi—^ Lynwood nA DATE (Check One) D Excel ent D Good D Fair ITl Deteriorated a Ruins n Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (Check One) IE Altered Q Unaltered D Moved (3 Original Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL. APPEARANCE The building is a combination of Classical Revival and California Bungalow style architectures• It displays good proportions with a strongly linear sheltering roof line along the longitudinal axis, anchored on either side at the center by gabled brick masonry piers with arched windows subtly accentuating the transverse axis. The gabled tile roof presents its expanse parallel to the railroad track and hovers on fluted columns repeated along its eave line on either side of the center piers The brick work and carpentry are well executed and their detailing lends relief and interest to the whole mass. The building gives a sens* of shelter at once both open and closed. It has a strong cohesive facac paralleling the railroad platform. A deeply gabled and open-end facade facing the street crossing acts as a secondary approach for automobile and pedestrian traffic. A large City identification sign and a l^ch^room advertisement ex rn tended approximately half the length of the ridge line. Decorative rn urns were placed on either side atop the gabled masonry piers. All are gone.

The Lynwood Depot stands abandoned and vandalized at present. CO It has been used as a Bus Depot, Taxi Stand, Lunch Stand and Commercial H Typing Schaol. These operations altered the building slightly but tttdf hot change its overall appearance or plan. It has withstood the ravages of weather and physical abuse in spite of its highly public exposure. Its condition has deteriorated (peeling paint, broken n windows, graffiti, etc.) but not beyond the point of repair. PERIOD (Check One or More aa Appropriate) Q Pre-Columbian! Q 16th Century 18th Century 20th Century n 15th Century D 17th Century 19th Century

SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) Erected 1917 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Aboriginal [~| Education (~) Political Q(1 Urban Planning (7J Prehistoric Q Engineering Q Religion/Phi- C7J Other (Specify,) Q Historic Q Industry losophy Q) Agriculture (7J Invention Q Science QQ Architecture Q Landscape Q Sculpture D Art Architecture Q Social/Human- | | Commerce D Literature itarian

| | Communications Q Military Q Theater | | Conservation d Music £] Transportation

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE To present knowledge the Lynwood depot is the only remaining Pacific Electric passenger station. It has survived the devastating Long Beach earthquake of 19339 neglect and vandalism and stands as evidence of a part of greater Los Angeles history and Southern California heritage. It bears invaluable testimony to the cultural identity of Lynwood and is a symbolic landmark in a time of change when all too often the foundations of the past are forgotten and lost forever. The building exemplifies native regional architecture of the time and can be said to enjoy the best influences from Greene and Greene and their Southern California Bungalow style and Bernard Maybeck and his Bay Area Neo-Classical expression. The architect is unknown, but he was aware of and sensitive to the work of these masters, undoubtedly. The spatial continuity of the building is contradicted in a sense by the marriage of these opposite styles. Its success lies in the nineteenth cen tury practice of romanticizing human experience: the intellect of clas sicism on the one hand and the intuition of naturalism on the other; both of which exaggerated human emotion. None of the other known stations exhibited this grasp of architectural expression and are uninteresting, unimaginative utilitarian structures in comparison. The style of the Lynwood station is unique in that it apparently was never repeated and had no precedent in the Pacific Electric System for its design. Lynwood1 s history was tied to open land, beginning with the Rancho San Antonio of Antonia Maria Lugo and still bears reference to this heri tage in name and deeded title. Dividing of the land among subsequent heirs and unrelated purchasers still maintained its agrarian use and so it was found when the Pacific Electric Railway built a line between Los Angeles and Santa Ana in 190£ passing through what is the center of pres ent day Lynwood. Ranching had given way to farming and the railway line traversed beet fields which it served in hauling their yiald south to a sugar refinery in Santa Ana. The railway attracted new residents and stimulated land de velopment. In 1906 part of this land between present day Long Beach Boulevard and Alameda Street was subdivided into the Modjeska Park Duke, Donald. "Pacific Electric Railway Journal". Moreau, Jeffrey. "The Western Traction Quarterly41 . Scully, Vincent, Jr. "Modern Architecture, the Architecture of Democracy". Prentice-Hall International. Swett, Ira L. "Lines of Pacific Electric". I. L. Swett. Willard, J. Jack. "Lynwood, All American City". El Cariso Publications,

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE ANp LONGITUDE COOR DJ N AJTE.S DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THti t-fciviTER POINT OF A PMOPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES

LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGI TUDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW NE 33 ° 55 ' 32 " 118 12 3U SE

APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY:

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: CODE COUNTY rn m

NAME AND Tl TLE: n Robert Andrew Swan, Arr»hHftH> ORGANIZATION City of Lynwood, Department of Public Works March 20, 197U STREET AND NUMBER: 11330 Bullis Road CITY OR TOWN: Lynwood California 06

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na I hereby certify that this property is included in the tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law Natiqnal Register. 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been . evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set li ( LtiWalLi/ forth by the National Park Service. The recommended level of significance of this nomination is: National Associate Director, Professional Servi ces SEP 25 1974 Date Name ATTEST:

State Historic Preservation Offic ?r Keeper of The National Regi&er

Date August 26, 197U Date

GPO 931-894 California NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Los Angeles INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER \ (Continuation Sheet) 8d, Statement of Significance , Cont'd: 2nd Page Tract. The subdivision failed to develop because of failure to connect a right of way with adjacent communities and later was absorbed in a new subdivision formed in 1913 under the Lynwood Company. Thus what was to be the city begun with an active sales promotion in Los Angeles newspapers known as "The New Half-Way City" (between Los Angeles and Long Beach), bringing in potential buyers by excursion bus, rail and car. In 1921 the city incorpo rated having become an active community along the railroad right of way.

The Pacific Electric Railway was financed with Southern Pacific Railroad money loaned to Henry Huntington to build it. In 1910, the Pacific Electric sold all of its holdings to the Southern Pacific. The following year some 63 electric railway lines, including the old Pacific Electric Railway, merged to form the Pacific Electric System which the Southern Pacific operated as a subsidiary. When Henry E. Huntington formed the Pacific Electric Railway in 1901 he also established the Pacific Electric Land Company to develop Huntington properties and growing communities. Huntington attracted land buyers and riders by developing business and recreational facilities along the interurban routes. It is not known if any of the early Lynwood subdivisions were finan cially related to Huntington 1 s venture, however without doubt the people in volved in promoting Lynwood took advantage of the railroad's presence. Be cause of its history and location Lynwood was destined to remain primarily a residential community and, as the area developed around it, it came to rely on the railroad as a commuter line. Everyone rode the Pacific Electric to work and "flocked aboard the 'Big Red Cars' for weekend outings".

The first interurban line built by the Pacific Electric was the Long Beach line opening in May of 1902. Lines to Newport Beach and San Pedro opened in 1904 and the Santa Ana line in 1905. By 1907 the Pacific Electric network reached most Southern California communities, declaring itself "The Great est Electric Railway System on Earth". The Pacific Electric offered con ducted trolley tours which included the Triangle Trolley Trip from Los Angeles to San Pedro, Long Beach and down the coast to Newport Beach and Balboa, then doubling back through Huntington Beach to Santa Ana and back to Los Angeles with Lynwood enroute. The Pacific Electric had several stops in Lynwood, the first and appar ently most elaborate being Modjeska Park. Nothing remains of this depot today and its existence is solely committed to memory. Other stops included Lynwood (Long Beach Boulevard), Lugo and Morton (Atlantic Avenue). The Lynwood stop was originally a simple shed-type shelter and bench adjacent to sugar beet fields. Other structures along the right of way included "Beet Dumps" consisting of elevated platforms with scales for weighing 1 and loading

GP 0 921-724 California NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Los Angeles INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NFS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet)

a" en^*f>"tTEM" 8d, Statement of Significance, Cont'd: 3rd Page the beets for hauling by rail. As the land was subdivided the beet farming declined and the dumps became idle. Public objection to the structures finally signalled their demolition. The Lynwood depot faired better. In 1917 the old shed shelter was re placed with a larger station for passenger operation, including a lunch room, at the intersection of Fernwood Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard. The sta tion was built by the Lynwood Company for the Southern Pacific in return for other improvements to the intersection by the railroad which included landfill, site grading, installation of drainage culverts and relocation of a new cattle guard. Drawings of the depot have yet to be found; possibly they were des troyed with other records when a former wooden City Hall structure burned prior to 1927.

The Southern District was the last of the three major Pacific Electric districts to take shape - and outlasted all the others. It was entirely the work of Henry Huntington and a partner, Epes Randolph. Randolph under stood topography and growth factors of the countryside between Los Angeles and the southern beaches and the Pacific Electric lines followed his layout exactly. The Southern District was the only district to have been standard gage operation from the beginning. The Long Beach line was the "guinea pig" for using the larger gage and was successful from the beginning with high speed interurban cars. The Southern District also had the Santa Ana line and the Watts Local. Lynwood was on the Santa Ana line just east of the Watts junction. The distance from Los Angeles to Watts was 7.45 miles and to Lynwood 9. 70 miles. The tract literally ran in a straight line from Watts to Santa Ana. Besides Lynwood, the towns served included Bellflower and Garden Grove. The Santa Ana line was 12.52 miles long from the Watts junction to the Los Angeles County line and 13. 89 miles from the county line to Santa Ana. The Santa Ana line had superior equipment. The diagonal route of the line in relation to the highways permitted a better than average operating speed. The trains consistently bettered highway time. Because the line did not parallel any highways it was saved from abandonment several times. The line was originally a double track. The southerly track was removed in 1940-41 and thereby also much of the ability to render superior service. Oddly enough at the time when Lynwood was getting a new and elaborate (by comparison) railway passenger station the Pacific Electric began to lose public support with the increase in automobile traffic. In order to survive the Pacific Electric began in 1930 to purchase and by 1936 had purchased competing interurban bus lines. It planned a rehabilitation program between

GPO 92J-724 Form 10-300o UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE California NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Los Angeles INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) SEP 2 r «// entree) ITEM 8d> Statement of Significance, Cont'd: 4th Page

1939 and 1941 for abandoning its major rail network. World War II inter rupted the move, pressing into service all available rail equipment to handle both passenger and freight traffic.

At the war's end the Pacific Electric was faced with needing new equip ment, track rehabilitation and declining patronage. In 1953 it sold all of its passenger services to Metropolitan Coach Lines. The Los Angeles Metro politan Transit Authority took over bus and rail services in March 1958. Passenger service on the line between Bellflower and Santa Ana was discon tinued July 1950. The Bellflower line was finally abandoned in 1958 and with its passing Lynwood lost its only link with rapid transit.

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GPO 921-724